| Piedmont Hotel | |
|---|---|
 The Piedmont Hotel in 1907 | |
 Interactive map of the Piedmont Hotel area | |
| General information | |
| Location | 116Peachtree Street NE[1],Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Coordinates | 33°45′24″N84°23′19″W / 33.75667°N 84.38861°W /33.75667; -84.38861 |
| Construction started | 1901 |
| Completed | 1903 |
| Opened | January 15, 1903 |
| Renovated | 1929 |
| Closed | May 3, 1965 |
| Demolished | 1965 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 11 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Willis F. Denny |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | Pringle & Smith |
ThePiedmont Hotel was a hotel inDowntown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Construction on the building, which was designed by architectWillis F. Denny, began in 1901, and the building was opened to the public in January 1903. Considered one of the finest hotels in the city at the time, numerous famous guests stayed at the hotel while visiting Atlanta, including threepresidents of the United States. Unlike other Atlanta hotels, the Piedmont sought to emulate the style of hotels in the northeastern United States and was commonly referred to by locals as "our New York City hotel". In 1929, the building went through an extensive renovation overseen by thearchitectural firm ofPringle & Smith. In 1965, the owners of the hotel agreed to sell the property to theEquitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, who planned to build a new office building on the site. The hotel was demolished that year and in 1968, theEquitable Building was completed.
During the latter half of the 19th century, the land indowntown Atlanta that the hotel would be built on was primarily residential.[2] In the 1850s,William Ezzard, who would later serve multiple terms asmayor of Atlanta, had a two-story brick house built on thatcity block and lived there until selling the property in 1880.[3] On August 3, 1901, the Piedmont Hotel Company spent $125,000 in purchasing the city block from the multiple owners who owned the individualland lots, which included politicianM. Hoke Smith.[4] At this time, the area was still residential, though there were two other hotels that had been built in the area: theHotel Aragon in 1892 and theMajestic Hotel in 1898.[5] Atlanta's main center for development had been located south of this area, atFive Points, although by the early 20th century, this area had grown congested and new developments began to spread northwards alongPeachtree Street.[6] Hotel construction followed this trend, as new hotels built in the early 1900s such as theGeorgian Terrace Hotel and theBiltmore Hotel were located further from the city'sUnion Station than hotels that had been built in the 1800s.[7]
Construction on the Piedmont Hotel commenced in mid-1901.[8] The building was designed byWillis F. Denny, an Atlanta-based architect who designed several other notable buildings in the city, such asSt. Mark United Methodist Church andRhodes Hall.[9] Construction on the hotel lasted through 1902, and it opened to the public at noon on January 15, 1903.[8] The opening was a big event for the city, as thousands of people gathered to see the hotel's interior and prompting theAtlanta chief of police to dispatch officers to keep order.[10] That afternoon,The Atlanta Journal published a front page story on the opening, calling the hotel "the handsomest and most complete inthe South".[8] While other hotels in the city, such as theKimball House, had a reputation as institutions that maintained Southern customs, such as in theSouthern cuisine offered in their eateries, the Piedmont instead sought to emulate the style of the hotels in the northeastern United States.[11] One way in which the Piedmont differed from other local hotels was that their staff ofbellhops andchambermaids consisted entirely ofwhite Americans, unlike in other hotels which often employed African Americans in those positions.[11] According to historianFranklin Garrett, the hotel was often referred to by locals as "our New York City hotel".[11] In 1906, Atlanta's first storefront theater, anickelodeon called the Peachtree Theatorium, opened in the hotel's lobby.[1] The following year, aguide book called the Piedmont the largest hotel in the city.[12]
In its early years, the hotel was host to numerous notable guests. Until the Georgian Terrace was completed in 1912, the Piedmont was the hotel of choice for visiting opera stars.[11] During one week in March 1911, the hotel hosted former United States PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, current PresidentWilliam Howard Taft, and future president and then-Governor of New JerseyWoodrow Wilson, who were in Atlanta for the Southern Commercial Congress.[13] In the 1920s,Margaret Mitchell interviewed inventorHudson Maxim at his room at the Piedmont for a story published byThe Atlanta Journal.[14] Other notable individuals who stayed at the hotel include United States Vice PresidentThomas R. Marshall, politicianWilliam Jennings Bryan,United States Army GeneralLeonard Wood, business magnateJ. Ogden Armour, racing driverBarney Oldfield, and writerThomas Dixon Jr.[11] In 1921, representatives from 14 universities in the southern United States met at the hotel to establish theSouthern Conference.[15] Going into that decade, the property had atax assessment of $977,500,[16][17] and it boasted 400 rooms, of which 250 had private baths.[18] However, by the middle of the decade, the Piedmont saw a decline in popularity, and between 1928 and 1929, the hotel was closed for a massiverenovation.[11] This was carried out by the Atlanta-basedarchitectural firm ofPringle & Smith and commenced on January 1, 1929.[19] As part of the project, almost the entire building except for thestructural frame was stripped and rebuilt.[20] As a result of the renovation, much of the building's ground floorfrontage was converted to commercial use, with several shops added to the building's lobby.[21][20] The total cost for the renovation was $750,000.[21] In 1932, Georgia politicianCharles R. Crisp based his headquarters at the hotel during his unsuccessful bid in thethat year's Senate elections.[22]
On March 2, 1965, thestockholders of the Piedmont Hotel Company announced that they had accepted a $3.5 million offer from theEquitable Life Assurance Society of the United States to purchase the property, where they intended to construct a new office building.[23] This was part of a larger trend of insurance companies building offices in Atlanta, as between 1960 and 1965, several major insurance firms had either constructed or had plans to construct a collective 135 floors-worth of office space in the city.[24] The hotel closed without fanfare at noon on May 3, 1965.[23][24] The following day,The Atlanta Constitution published an editorial about the hotel, commending it for its high quality and saying in part about its demolition, "It is with regret that we see an old friend, the Piedmont, depart".[23][24] The building was demolished that year,[25] and by 1968, theEquitable Building, a 34-floor skyscraper that had cost $20 million to erect,[26] was completed.[27]
The hotel occupied a city block that was bounded by Peachtree Street, Luckie Street, Forsyth Street, and Williams Street.[28] The building had a frontage of 182.4 feet (55.6 m) on Luckie Street, 128.35 feet (39.12 m) on Peachtree Street, 150.5 feet (45.9 m) on Forsyth Street, and 33.5 feet (10.2 m) at the intersection of Broad, Luckie, and Peachtree streets.[17] The building stood 11 stories tall.[24] On the first floor was the main lobby of the building, which hadmarblecolumns and was decorated with largefrescoes.[29] Connected to the lobby was the hotel's offices, parlor rooms, and several shops.[29] Additionally, a dining room was affixed to the lobby, with a space for the hotel's orchestra nearby.[29] The hotel rooms were located on the second floor and above and could be reached from the lobby by either stairs or an elevator.[29] Private dining rooms and the hotel's kitchen were also located on the second floor.[29]
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